In the novel Happy Ending Nonetheless, Amila’s role was extremely minor. The only time she appeared directly in the novel was in a scene where the young Adin cried in an empty funeral hall, contemplating the bleak future ahead of her. In other words, I was nothing more than a corpse.
What was surprising, though, was that Amila was mentioned indirectly from time to time. In the novel, after Adin sided with the heroine, Lyla, she guided Lyla’s party through a dungeon and said, “There’s a dungeon under the family’s lake. This is where we are, and inside the dungeon is a healing potion.”
“How do you know that?”
When Lyla asked, Adin nodded. “On the day my sister died, I wandered all over the Count’s estate. That’s when I discovered a trace of magic. When I followed it, I found a dungeon.”
“Sister?”
“She was a weak sister. She died before I even got to meet her, but she was probably a mage.”
That weak sister was me, Amila Matias Elias.
The original Amila didn’t even know she was a mage. In Happy Ending Nonetheless, for a mage to awaken their unique ability, they had to be exposed to an event that triggered their unique ability. For example, a fire magic user would be trapped in a fire or get a slight burn. A mind-control ability user would be subjected to repetitive verbal cues.
As you can see, the ability Amila has is…
[Awakened Ability: The Path to Overcoming Trials (Lv.1)]
[Would you like to check the details of the ability? (▶Y)]
[The Path to Overcoming Trials: The user’s stats increase based on the pain they receive.]
[Experience the joy of growth by encountering various forms of pain!]
[*The more you develop your ability, the higher the chance of acquiring information related to the person.]
This ‘sadistic’ ability. Unfortunately, a chronic illness was not enough to trigger this unique ability.
Still, thanks to reading the novel, I knew that Amila was a person with a unique magic ability. This was because only a person with a unique magic ability could leave a trace of magic.
So, how did I know that Amila’s ability was related to pain? The novel described that Amila was poisoned to death by ‘Liselotte,’ the villainess who was jealous of the heroine, to highlight Liselotte’s evil personality. As a result, Amila was in such terrible pain right after she died that she used her unique ability at the very last moment, and that was the ‘trace of magic’ that Adin saw.
I just remembered and used that information.
Since I was no longer ‘receiving’ pain and not trying to do anything else, the system window naturally disappeared.
“Why… didn’t you dodge it?”
Meanwhile, Adin was flustered. I looked around. Thankfully, I had sent the knight and guards far away, so they didn’t seem to have seen Adin use magic on me.
Click-
I snapped my fingers once and then drew a straight line in the air with my index finger.
It was ‘soundproof magic’ that controlled the flow of magic to prevent sound from leaking outside a specific area. I was copying the method that Adin in the original novel used to manifest magic with an action instead of a spell. In the novel, it was said that Adin had devised this method to increase the speed of magic casting.
My favorite character is so smart.
I smiled faintly, secretly proud of my favorite character’s ability.
“Surprised? I’m a mage just like you. Oh, I’m sorry for the late introduction. I’m your sister, Amila Elias.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You came all this way just to pretend to be my sister? Get out of my sight.”
“Are you worried and telling me to show a doctor my wound? Don’t worry. A scratch like this barely shows.”
“Why are you interpreting what I say in such a way?”
Adin’s expression changed from red to green several times. She seemed to be tensing up, and the Stigma reacted by tightening its grip on her body. I glanced at it and whispered, “It’s best to relax your body. The Stigma reacts to your magic. The more you resist, the tighter it holds you.”
“That’s a lie. How can I believe you?”
“Because I like you?”
My genuinely heartfelt answer made Adin frown even more. After a moment of moving her lips, Adin said as if she was grinding her teeth, “What are you going to do if I tell your family everything you just said?”
Then, her eyes, filled with malice, turned to me. “Then your family will hate you, won’t they?”
“I don’t know. Do you think those people are family? They’ve been tormenting you.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“No, I genuinely think that.”
I met her gaze squarely. Adin’s fingers had slightly poked through the iron bars. I held her outstretched fingers with both hands. Cautiously, as if I were handling a glass doll.
“In a myth I know, a certain person says this: love doesn’t grow where doubt grows. So you don’t have to doubt the feelings I have for you.”
“I can’t believe that.”
“You don’t have to. It’s just how I feel. Of course, I’m not asking you to be responsible for those feelings.”
“When have you ever seen me? Who are you, and what do you know about me!”
Adin roughly pulled her hand away from mine. I had cast a soundproof spell, so they couldn’t hear us, but the knight and guards had started whispering.
I don’t have much time.
But I still wanted to say this. From the first time I saw you in the novel until now.
“I’ve been watching you for a long time. Even if you don’t know it.”
How much comfort your presence, which helped me endure my life, gave me.
“I love you.”
Adin’s shoulders flinched. She blinked slowly. She pulled her knees up and came closer to me. Adin bit her lip for a moment, then suddenly lowered her head. In that state, she muttered as if she was crushing the words, “…Is it because you’re my sister?”
“Huh?”
“My mother told me when she sold me. That I had the blood of the Elias family. So don’t ever think about coming back to her.”
Is she talking about the part in the novel where Adin was abandoned by her biological mother? I bit my lip. Adin grabbed the iron bars.
“Are you my sister? Here, will you stay by my side forever?”
Adin’s hands holding the iron bars tightened. The veins on her skinny hands stood out clearly. I placed my hand on top of hers, on the part where her hand was touching the iron bars.
“I don’t plan on staying next to you here.”
The strength drained from Adin’s hand. Was she disappointed? But this was my sincere intention. I gripped the iron bars tightly. Adin’s hand was halfway inside mine.
“I plan on running away with you.”
“…What?”
“It’s not possible right now, but I promise. I will get you out of this place.”
Even though I was only holding onto half of her hand, I squeezed it slightly. I didn’t know how much strength was transferred, as I had a terminally ill body. Well, it probably sounded like an empty boast to Adin. I tried to let go, but my hand didn’t come off the iron bars. This time, Adin had grabbed my hand.
“Then don’t abandon me.”
Adin’s fingernails pressed into the skin between my thumb and index finger. “Because if you abandon me, I will curse you for the rest of my life.”
Adin then let go of my hand. There was a faint fingernail mark left on my hand that had been separated from the iron bars. A curse. I rolled the word around in my mouth like a candy, then bent my knees and buried my face in them. A faint laugh escaped from between my knees. A shadow fell under Adin’s eyes.
“Why are you laughing?”
“No, you’re just too cute.”
“You’re… weird.”
“So you don’t like it?”
“It’s not that, but…”
“Then call me ‘sister.'”
I said it nonchalantly to lighten the tense atmosphere, but Adin hesitated to answer. Adin slowly raised her head and said in a grumbling voice, “…Sister.”
I didn’t think she would actually say it. Surprisingly, it felt good. So I decided to ask Adin one more time.
“Call me again.”
“No. I’m…”
‘I’m…’?
As I tilted my head, Adin roughly ruffled her hair. “It’s nothing. But don’t you still have something to worry about?”
She immediately changed the subject. I wanted to pry more, but as Adin had said, the knight and guards had started to glance in our direction. It was time to put on a show.
Before I sent the knight away, I gathered the weeds I had put down earlier. The weeds in my arms fell in front of Adin. As the foul smell filled the air, Adin covered her nose.
“Ugh, what is this-”
“That’s why I prepared this.”
I snapped my fingers to release the soundproof spell. I deliberately spoke loudly so the knight and guards far away could hear.
“Eat it.”
“What?”
“I thought you only had a slow mind, but now your ears are hurting too. The weeds in front of you, pick them up and eat them. Or should I put them in your mouth for you?”
The knight and guards looked at me with disgust as if I was a terrible person. Even Adin, who had sworn to curse me for the rest of her life if I abandoned her, didn’t know what to do about the terrible smell.
Even though I was the one who handed them to her, the smell was awful.
But the dragonfly-shaped weed I gave Adin, ‘lettuce,’ was a good herb for healing magical wounds. I wanted to give my favorite character a medicine that wasn’t disgusting to eat.
Unfortunately, lettuce was an herb whose healing effects diminished the more it was processed. Besides, lettuce had other functions besides healing.
Meanwhile, Adin tried to move away from the weeds because of the smell. I hoped Adin would notice my intention and threw a weed into the prison. The weed floated on the water that reached Adin’s knees. In response, the Stigma that bound Adin snatched the weed. The Stigma chewed the weed and then trembled slightly. Soon, the tips of the stems touching the weed withered a little. Adin, who was close to the stems, noticed the subtle change and her eyes lit up.
Adin reached out and picked up a weed, then chewed it in her mouth. Every time she chewed the weed, her body trembled, and she gagged. After eating all the weeds I had gathered, she stumbled and fell. She leaned against the wall and collapsed into the water that reached her waist. For a moment, the red light in her eyes reflected off the lantern outside the prison and shone brightly.
Adin smiled faintly.
I turned my back and walked toward the knight and guards. On my way back, I slightly raised both corners of my mouth.
The deception was just beginning.
